Duke no match for No. 1 UConn

Duke no match for No. 1 UConn

No. 1 Connecticut came into Cameron Indoor Stadium and did something no other team in women’s basketball has been able to do.

The Huskies dominated Duke.

Again.

UConn routed the second-ranked Blue Devils, 83-61, on Tuesday night behind 21 points and a career-high seven three-pointers from Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis in her first game back from an injury.

Breanna Stewart had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Huskies (11-0), and Stefanie Dolson had 14 points and Bria Hartley finished with 13.

UConn shot 49 percent, held the Blue Devils without a field goal for a critical 8 1⁄2-minute stretch while pushing its lead well into the 20s and turned the 52nd meeting of Nos. 1 and 2 into the latest blowout in this series.

“I think I would be less than honest if I said I thought we could come in here and win by 20,” said coach Geno Auriemma, who earned his 850th career win. “Simply because we haven’t played in [12 days]. We weren’t sure what we were going to get from [Mosqueda-Lewis and Morgan Tuck]. And I thought Duke, being at home and they’ve got a bunch of upperclassmen . . . it would be a little bit different.”

It wasn’t.

UConn won its seventh straight in the series — and the previous six were decided by an average of nearly 30 points.

Chelsea Gray had 13 points, and Haley Peters finished with 11 for Duke (10-1), which had its 24-game winning streak at Cameron snapped — a run that dated to UConn’s last visit in 2011.

“We didn’t do what we needed to do defensively,” coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “We didn’t rebound the way we need to rebound. And we showed little patience on offense at critical times.”

The Huskies, the only visitors to beat Duke on its home floor since 2008, now have done it three times since anybody else has found a way to do it once.

They also spoiled the Blue Devils’ undefeated start with a rout for the third time in four seasons.

Stewart did much of the early damage in her first appearance in front of the Cameron Crazies — or at least what was left of them, with the Duke students on winter break. She was four points shy of the career high she matched last month against Oregon.

And every time Duke threatened to make a run, the Huskies found a way to get Mosqueda-Lewis a clean look from behind the three-point line. She was especially accurate from the corners while showing no signs of rust after missing eight games with a nerve contusion on her right elbow.

“I don’t think we would have won the game the way we won it without her,” Auriemma said.

The Blue Devils, who spent the second half trying to claw their way back into the game, pulled to 65-52 on Elizabeth Williams’ layup with just under eight minutes left.

After a timeout, UConn worked the ball around the perimeter to Mosqueda-Lewis, who swished her fifth three to restore the Huskies’ 18-point lead and help them pull away for their 17th straight win.

“That’s something that coach has been telling me since last year — that I need to shoot every shot like it’s the last shot, and shoot every shot like it’s an important shot,” Mosqueda-Lewis said.

Tricia Liston and Alexis Jones each finished with 10 points for Duke, which earned just five free throws and was 4-for-18 from three-point range.